Skip to content

Anarcho-capitalism, explained.

What if it could all be voluntary?

Courts, security, even money can be provided by people and businesses who compete for your trust instead of forcing you to pay.

Start here 7 min read or take the quiz: How ancap are you? 2 min →

What the name means

Volun + Threads: voluntary threads that hold people together only for as long as both sides want. And threads you can wear.

Learn more →

From the press

Read the new articles

All articles →
Bitcoin 24 Oct 2026 The 2028 halving: why Bitcoin slows down while everything else speeds up The state and taxes 24 Oct 2026 Tax Freedom Day 2026 in Czechia: you worked for the state until 24 June Economics 22 Oct 2026 The price ceiling: 1,700 years of the same mistake
The idea

Four articles of liberty

Each article follows from the one before it. Accept the first, and the rest is a matter of being consistent.

  1. I. Self-ownership

    You own your body and your life. No one else, including a government, has a higher claim to it.

    Read the guide →

  2. II. Non-aggression principle

    Nobody may start force or fraud against you, and you may not start it against anyone else.

    Read the guide →

  3. III. Property

    What you make or acquire peacefully is yours. Taking it without consent is aggression, whoever does it.

    Read the guide →

  4. IV. Voluntary exchange

    Every service, from courts to money, must be offered and paid for by consent. That is a free market.

    Read the guide →

Accept the first, and the free market follows.

Ten statements · two minutes

How ancap are you?Ancap is short for anarcho-capitalist: someone who believes that everything the state does, from courts to money, can be provided by people and businesses who compete for your trust. More in the glossary →

Agree or disagree with ten statements about taxes, money, courts and drugs. Find out whether you are a classical liberal, a minarchist, an anarcho-capitalist or an agorist.

Quick quiz · 2 min Full test · 30 statements

Try it right here 1 / 3

  1. 1. Taxation is a form of theft.

  2. 2. The government should run the healthcare system.

  3. 3. Most disputes could be settled by private courts and arbitration instead of state courts.

Contents

Learn

Each guide takes five to eight minutes and ends with three questions to check yourself. Read them in order, or start with whatever interests you most.

All guides →
0 / 14 guides read
Start with What is anarcho-capitalism? →

New to the words? Read the glossary: 96 terms →

Newsletter

Liberty in your inbox

New guides, articles and designs, once in a while. No spam, we do not track opens or clicks, unsubscribe with one click.

  • New guides and articles When something new is published on the site, with a short summary.
  • New designs from the shop First look at new shirts and prints, before anyone else.
  • Nothing more No daily mail, no sponsored messages, no selling of your address.

Greetings from a free society. Write your e-mail on the address line and we will keep you posted.

To:

By subscribing you agree that we store your e-mail to send you the newsletter. Unsubscribe with one click in any e-mail. More about the newsletter

Map of ideas

How it all connects

Every idea, book and thinker on this site, and how they link to each other. Drag, zoom and click to explore.

    Drag to move · scroll or pinch to zoom · click a note to open it

    Your share

    How many days do you work for the state?

    Pick your country. We count the taxes on your work, plus an estimate of the tax on what you spend, as a share of the year.

    – days a year

    You start working for yourself on –.

    Your employer pays in total
    –
    Social and health insurance
    –
    Income tax
    –
    Taxes on your work
    –
    VAT or sales tax (estimate)
    –
    Goes to the state
    –

    Your taxes

    Where the money goes

    Start with 100 to see the shares, or enter what you pay the state in a year. For Czechia it is filled in from the calculator above.

      Spending of all public budgets (central and local government and social security funds) by purpose, as a share of the total, in the latest year available. Taxes do not cover all of it: what the state spends beyond its revenue it borrows, and the interest is paid from future taxes. Your taxes split in the same proportions.

      Your money is melting

      100 CZK saved in 2000 buys 47 CZK of goods today

      Nobody in Czechia voted to take 53% of their savings. Inflation did it quietly, year by year. That is why sound money matters.

      Why Bitcoin is different

      Money without a master

      Why Bitcoin matters

      Governments fund themselves by taxing and by printing money. Bitcoin is money with a fixed supply that no central bank can inflate and no state can freeze. For anarcho-capitalists it is the first working proof that a core state function can be replaced by voluntary code.

      Running almost without a break for 6,509 days No holidays, no bailouts, no closing time.

      The basics Deep dive →

      Bitcoin network

      Block 0 · 3 Jan 2009

      30 Oct 2026 20:27Block ≈ 973,027

      New block about every
      10 min
      Reward per block today
      3.125 BTC
      Next halving in
      ≈ 535 days
      Central issuer
      NONE
      Permission needed
      NONE

      Mined so far≈ 20,103,209

      95.7% of all bitcoin that will ever exist
      MAX SUPPLY21,000,000
      1 BTC today
      ≈ $76,738
      For $10 you get
      ≈ 13,030 sats

      *** No refunds from the Fed ***

      Height, coins mined and halving are estimates from the clock. Price: CoinGecko, 30. 10. 2026 19:37.

      “The State is the great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.”

      Frédéric Bastiat · The State, 1848
      Letters

      But who will build the roads?

      The questions everyone asks first, answered briefly. Each links to a longer reply.

      All questions →
      A reader asks

      “Who would build the roads?”

      Open the letterFold it back
      We reply:

      The same people who build them now: construction firms. They would be paid by owners, developers, toll operators or local associations instead of from taxes.

      Full answer →
      A reader asks

      “What stops the strongest from taking over?”

      Open the letterFold it back
      We reply:

      Defense and courts compete and must keep customers. A firm that starts using force loses clients, partners and insurers, while a state's monopoly faces no such check.

      Full answer →
      A reader asks

      “What about people who can't pay?”

      Open the letterFold it back
      We reply:

      Charity, mutual aid societies and cheaper goods from freer markets. Before the welfare state, mutual aid groups insured millions of workers.

      Full answer →
      Your question

      Not answered here?

      Write to us →
      The library

      Books that built the idea

      From one-evening classics to thousand-page treatises. Pull a book off the shelf to read what it is about.

      Full reading list →

      The shelf goes on: drag it, swipe it or use the arrows

      Back to top